I just went thru the same thing, comparing all 4 main contenders, Mercury, Suzuki, Honda and Yamaha. Discounted the Yamaha first due to the scheduled maintenance costs and Mercury soon after due to the high initial cost (although it was one of my 2 favorites). At the end it was between the Suzuki and the Honda, technologically they're very similar and their weight is pretty close but the Suzuki initial cost won out in the end, a difference of more than $5500, (this included a new instrument panel, relocating a battery and installing an NMEA 2000 network system to tie in the engine, tank and digital gauge to my chartplotter/sonar, the Honda dealer didn't offer any of these options)! I just got her back from the dealer and started the break-in process and this engine is even quieter than I expected, I barely hear it at idle, hell, the telltale cooling stream is louder than the engine! I haven't been able to take it to full throttle yet but at the present max of 4000 rpm she ran at 37 mph and gave 3.1 mpg, and at 3750 rpm she ran at 34 mph and gave 4.1 mpg! Incredible but I hear it's pretty common for the Suzukis. Just my 2 cents but you can't go wrong with Suzuki, just make sure you go to an authorized Suzuki "Re-Power" center to get the best experience.
__________________
Boatless again!
|